Chapter 218: Cooperation Is A Mess (5)
Chapter 217 – Cooperation Is A Mess (5)
The Hebei Paeng Clan’s Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art.
The Hebei Paeng Clan was already far superior to others in the robust greatness of their bones.
However, when they circulated the Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art, their bones became even thicker and more solid than usual.
It was as if one were seeing rapid growth at a single glance.
Namgung Cheon smiled faintly.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. A proper Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art.’
The Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art was an internal cultivation method so excellent that it seemed unfitting for the Hebei Paeng Clan, which was centered on external arts and practical combat.
The reason Namgung Cheon had been able to survive for such a long time in his past life without dying could also be said to be due to this Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art.
Since it was this Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art that he had learned properly for the first time through his First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes.
People often ignored the martial arts of the Hebei Paeng Clan, saying they were centered on practical combat and external arts, but the Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art was by no means inferior to other internal cultivation methods.
Particularly, when one achieved great success in the Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art, one would simultaneously circulate the energies of the five elements, and at that point, one could reach a realm that no expert could ignore.
In any case, Paeng Jeok-ho had not achieved great success in the Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art, but he was still a person who had firmly built its foundation.
It felt completely different from what Paeng Su-hyeok had displayed on the stage a while ago.
Regardless, Paeng Jeok-ho, whose top had burst away to reveal massive muscles, emitted a brilliant radiance from his eyes.
“Namgung Cheon, I recognize you.”
“Why, so suddenly?”
“From now on, I will do my best.”
“Very well. Come. I will concede the first move.”
Paeng Jeok-ho burst into a chuckle.
He was certainly an interesting fellow and a crazy fellow.
“Here I come!”
Swish!
In an instant, Paeng Jeok-ho’s figure slid forward, arriving in front of Namgung Cheon in the blink of an eye.
Exclamations burst from the training ground at the movement, which was clearly different from before.
“Amazing!”
“To think the Paeng Clan is that fast!”
“What are you talking about? The Paeng Clan’s martial arts are specialized for practical combat. If they were slow on the battlefield, they couldn’t do anything!”
Fwoooosh!
A saber qi that seemed capable of splitting the world fell toward Namgung Cheon.
It was the stance One Saber Severing Heaven of the Hunyuan Thunder Saber, following the Hunyuan Steps!
A deep blue radiance fell with the momentum to slice Namgung Cheon in half.
Namgung Cheon’s eyes narrowed.
‘It is still Earth, Metal, and Fire.’
In other words, although he used the Hunyuan Thunder Divine Art, he had not yet mastered the energies of Water and Wood among the five elements.
Its energy, however, blended together as it ran along the blade and erupted as saber qi.
It was truly as relentless as a thunderbolt falling from the sky.
However, Namgung Cheon did not hurry.
His mind was slow and relaxed.
Yet his body moved faster than ever before.
Swish!
The Emerald Silk Sword soared from bottom to top. At the same time, the power of the Azure Emerald Divine Art surging from his dantian ran along his blood vessels and was transmitted to the Emerald Silk Sword.
It was Namgung Cheon, whose internal energy had rapidly risen after consuming the Great Returning Pill.
In addition, he drew up the energies that formed mutual constraints with Earth, Metal, and Fire, clashing them one by one.
‘Wood conquers Earth!’
‘Fire conquers Metal!’
‘Water conquers Fire!’
Claaaaang!
Immediately, as the saber and sword collided, a noise erupted that seemed to tear their eardrums.
“Aaargh!”
“Ugh!”
The onlookers held their ears and stumbled.
Screeech!
Crash!
The power of One Saber Severing Heaven, which had passed through Namgung Cheon, created a long crack on the ground and struck the cliff behind his back.
Rumble!
It was nothing short of an earthquake.
It felt as if the cliff would collapse right away and cover the estate.
Thud, thud!
Dust and gravel fell down.
In an instant, silence fell over the training ground.
“……!”
“Na-Namgung Cheon…! Are you okay?”
Yun Jong-seung muttered blankly.
This time, even Paeng Su-hyeok, Yu Hyeon, and Jin So-hong could not be sure, so they only watched quietly with wide eyes.
And for good reason, did the power of One Saber Severing Heaven that fell on Namgung Cheon not pass through his body and lead to the cliff behind?
Yun Jong-seung’s face turned pale.
‘Namgung Cheon…!’
Although he blocked the blade, the saber qi had cut through Namgung Cheon and passed by.
There was no way Namgung Cheon would be safe like this…
“Huh?”
Is he smiling?
Namgung Cheon was smiling, twisting his lips.
On the other hand, Paeng Jeok-ho, who had struck down with the saber, grit his teeth and had a frustrated expression.
“Hyaaah!”
In an instant, Paeng Jeok-ho let out a shout, rotated, and swung his saber horizontally.
Returning Flow Hunyuan Stance!
Rather than a single attack, saber strikes that seemed capable of shaking the world continued.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
However, Namgung Cheon did not budge from his spot. He did not retreat a single step.
Nevertheless, the saber qi passed through Namgung Cheon and repeatedly mangled the cliff behind his back.
Boom, boom, boom!
Clang, clang, clang!
Everyone watching widened their eyes.
“H-How could that…!”
“Unbelievable!”
If he received such saber strikes, he would have no choice but to move a little, but did it not look like an adult calmly receiving a child’s punches?
Suddenly, it felt as if Clan Leader Paeng was the child instead.
Paeng Jeok-ho was also driven crazy.
‘Why is this fellow…!’
Did it feel like shoveling the air?
No matter how much he struck, the impact was not transmitted.
It felt as if it passed through Namgung Cheon’s body and flowed backward.
The next moment, Namgung Cheon narrowed his eyes.
‘It is a bit of a waste.’
If he had saved Clan Leader Paeng’s life, Paeng Jeok-ho could have grown much more than this.
Swish, clang!
Receiving the final blow, Namgung Cheon finally slid backward.
Swoosh.
Namgung Cheon, who slid about two zhang, emitted a steam-like haze from his entire body.
Paeng Jeok-ho’s eyes twitched severely as if he could not believe it.
He received all of the Returning Flow Hunyuan Stance following One Saber Severing Heaven.
It was only two stances, but the saber strikes continued five times.
Nevertheless, Namgung Cheon did not suffer much damage.
Was this the level of a mere cadet?
Did that make sense?
His blood boiled.
It was not a feeling of anger.
What should he say?
It was closer to excitement.
At the thought of facing a formidable opponent, his instincts as a martial artist were coming out.
Namgung Cheon slowly lowered the Emerald Silk Sword. Then, looking at Paeng Jeok-ho with sunken eyes, he spoke.
“Watch carefully. I hope you gain something.”
In an instant, the Emerald Silk Sword was wrapped in a blue energy.
Paeng Jeok-ho watched that scene quietly with trembling eyes.
‘What on earth is that child…!’
The Hunyuan Thunder Saber based on the Hunyuan Thunder Art could be called the best secret of the Hebei Paeng Clan.
Yet, to block it so easily!
He clearly struck the opponent, but he felt an emptiness as if striking the air.
Namgung Cheon wore a faint smile as he looked at Paeng Jeok-ho.
‘He must be puzzled.’
If the opponent had been someone other than himself, it would have surely caused a deep internal injury.
But unfortunately, the opponent was him.
And facing the Azure Emerald Divine Art was also a stroke of bad luck.
It was because all the energy was allowed to flow away through the unique emptiness of the Azure Emerald Divine Art.
Simply put, it could be said to be an application of the technique of Striking the Ox Behind the Mountain.
Strike the mountain to hit the ox.
It was a method usually used to inflict internal injuries on someone wearing iron armor.
The iron armor remained intact, but the internal organs protected behind it would burst.
The iron armor merely served as a passage to transmit internal energy.
Namgung Cheon had become such a passage using the Azure Emerald Divine Art. On top of that, he unleashed the energies that mutually constrained the incoming internal energy to dismantle it, so the more the opponent struck, the more he would feel like shoveling the air.
Of course, neutralizing all martial arts this way was a difficult task.
Just as emptying the mind was difficult, letting go of any force through martial arts required immense concentration.
Therefore, it was a method difficult to unleash unless in a one-on-one duel. Furthermore, it could not be unleashed continuously.
Because making the body like an empty space by circulating energy meant there was no way to subdue the opponent, which was the same.
So, Namgung Cheon had stopped his defense at this point as well.
‘If I had held out any longer, I might have suffered an internal injury.’
In any case, now it was his turn to show.
Gwooooo.
A formidable aura rose from Namgung Cheon’s entire body.
Paeng Jeok-ho narrowed his eyes and watched Namgung Cheon quietly.
He slowly pulled his right foot back and took a defensive stance.
On the other hand, Namgung Cheon quietly circulated his energy and began to concentrate all his power on the Emerald Silk Sword.
Hummmm.
The Emerald Silk Sword trembled and let out a cry.
A blue energy condensed brilliantly along the blade.
At this moment, Namgung Cheon abandoned his past life.
To be precise, he abandoned all the habits of his past life.
And he began to circulate his energy solely with the pure energy of the Azure Emerald Divine Art.
Now, he was simply Namgung Cheon of the Namgung Clan.
Hum. Hum. Hum.
Each time the Emerald Silk Sword moved, it let out a faint cry.
It was as if the blade split into two or three and then merged back into one.
Paeng Jeok-ho gripped the hilt tightly, swallowed hard, and slowly moved sideways.
An instinctual warning rang in his head that something big was coming.
The two men moved in opposite directions as if drawing a circle.
Rustle.
Namgung Cheon soon stopped his steps and took a starting stance.
If Paeng Jeok-ho rushed in right now and swung his saber, he might be able to block it before that big thing came.
In normal times, he would have certainly done so.
He would have swung his saber before the opponent could take a starting stance.
But strangely, he did not want to do that.
He wanted to know what that big thing coming was.
‘Come! I will receive it!’
Paeng Jeok-ho gripped his saber firmly.
At that moment, Namgung Cheon’s figure flew in.
Swish!
Paeng Jeok-ho raised his eyes.
Namgung Cheon’s figure seemed to scatter like air. The scattered Namgung Cheon seemed to become wind and rush in.
‘This is the sword of the Namgung Clan!’
Surprisingly, at this moment, Paeng Jeok-ho could not think of Namgung Cheon as Jin Cheon-rang’s son.
He was simply the Namgung Clan.
Even while knowing instinctively that it was an immense speed, Namgung Cheon’s appearance drawn in front of his eyes was clear as if time had slowed down.
That was how hyper-focused he was.
Reaching close range, Namgung Cheon raised his sword.
It was Azure Void Sunset of the Azure Emerald Sword Art.
The sun fell from the blue sky.
That was exactly what Paeng Jeok-ho felt.
The moment he received the sun falling through that blue void, the world would be dyed in a blood-red sunset.
However, he had no choice but to receive it.
Because if he did not receive it, his entire body would surely burn to death.
Paeng Jeok-ho raised his blade as if possessed toward the sword falling dazzlingly.
Finally, the moment the saber and sword collided,
Claaaaang!
At the same time the sunset-colored wave of energy blew in all directions, a noise that seemed to tear their eardrums erupted.
Crash!
Dozens of roof tiles from the surrounding pavilions were blown away by the wind and rolled around carelessly.
Several people nearby fell on their backs.
At the light of energy erupting from the collision of the saber and sword, several people furrowed their brows deeply.
Finally,
Boom!
In an instant, Paeng Jeok-ho’s body was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing directly into the cliff.
Crash!
Creak…!
With Paeng Jeok-ho smashed into the cliff at the center, cracks were etched like a spiderweb.
“Ah…”
“My goodness…”
The onlookers opened their mouths wide and could not continue.
A single blow!
And against the Hebei Paeng Clan, who would be second to none in terms of robust bones, to strike down with a single blow!
Everyone turned to Namgung Cheon with shocked faces.